1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for detecting the icing-up of the blades of an aircraft rotor.
The icing-up of the blades of a rotor of an aircraft such as a helicopter is a serious phenomenon, able to destabilise it causing loss of control. It is thus important to detect the icing-up sufficiently early in order to be able to put the de-icing apparatus into operation.
2. Description of the Related Art
The detection of the icing-up of the blades may be effected by means of specific sensors installed directly on these blades. However, this direct method has the drawback that the sensors are exposed to a severe environment and that it is difficult to transmit the information to the fixed parts of the system.
The document GB-A-2 046 690 has also proposed using the torque transmitted to the rotor, in order to detect the icing-up of the blades. However, this method necessitates quite a high number of calculations, even in cases where the accuracy required is relatively low.